Mekane in Paris

Greg Marchand's 2e bistro that rewrote the neo-bistro template in 2009.

Bertrand Grébaut's 11e neo-bistro that reset the gravitational centre east in 2011.

Anglo-French neo-bistro on Faubourg Poissonnière, a wine list with weight, an unfussy kitchen.

The 1932 bistro classique, Ducasse-stewarded since 2013.

Mazouz brothers' Marais cocktail bar, North African-Pop Art mash-up, since 2001, with a hidden courtyard.

Belle Époque salon de thé since 1903, Mont-Blanc and chocolat l'Africain under the rue de Rivoli arcades

Tiny zinc-bar bistro near Châtelet, GaultMillau toque, charcuterie from named Auvergne producers.

Gaël Orieux's quiet Michelin star, sustainable fish only, fifteen years running.

1890 Lyon-bouchon-style bistro, under the Dumant family from 2025, after Ducasse

Haut-Marais no-menu cocktail bar, bartender asks your mood, builds the drink around French organic seasonal produce.

The 11e's reference bistro, steak-frites, soufflé, white tablecloths and zero affectation.

1864 Belle Époque brasserie under a stained-glass dome, choucroute, plateaux de fruits de mer, full theatre.

Philippe Starck's 1970s post-office turned Trocadéro design hotel with rooftop kitchen garden.

1919 Place des Ternes brasserie, Laura Gonzalez interior, three-time MOF écailler.

1895 Saint-Lazare brasserie, Niermans mosaics, listed since 1989.

Brazilian asador, Lucas Baur de Campos's open-fire 11e room, Le Fooding, Infatuation cult.

Jody Williams's all-day gastrothèque, the SoPi room that never feels off.

Sartre and Beauvoir's corner of Boulevard Saint-Germain since 1887.

Jean-Marc Notelet's chalkboard bistro, spice-forward cuisine du marché near l'Étoile.

Taqueria up front, hidden cocktail bar through the back door, one of Paris's first speakeasies, still in form.

1927 Trocadéro tea-room, marble tables, white aprons, view across to the Tower.

Saint-Germain hunting-lodge speakeasy by Thomas Codsi, Le Fooding-listed, weekend basement DJ floor.

The trompe-l'oeil fruit pastries you've seen on Instagram, boutique and salon

Forty-seat 7e bistro behind Musée d'Orsay, chef Patrick Plais's blanquette, lentil salad, chocolate mousse in a fruit-bowl.

Septime's no-reservations seafood sister, daily-catch small plates on rue de Charonne.

Belle Époque tiles, marionette-sized kitchen, neo-bistro cooking, opposite the Cirque d'Hiver.

Franck Audoux's cocktail bar in a 1911 Hector Guimard Art Nouveau building.

Italian trattoria in a former Jean-Paul Gaultier boutique, Le Fooding 'Best Decor' 2017, still buzzing.

1883 Belle Époque seafood brasserie, Rostang family, daily-port-sourced fish.

The Goncourt Prize restaurant since 1914, Place Gaillon institution under chef Romain Van Thienen

Mikaela Liaroutsos's Greek bistro on rue Eugène Carrière, Michelin Guide listing, Le Fooding regular.

The 2007 Sentier speakeasy that built modern Paris cocktail culture, still no reservations

Mahogany expat bar from 1911, birthplace of the Bloody Mary, between Opéra and the Place Vendôme

The original Pigalle boutique, leather banquettes, art on every wall, brunch all weekend.

Boutique design hotel inside a former metals factory, concrete, courtyard, cocktail bar at the centre.

Laurent Taïeb's reborn 1888 central post office with rooftop ROOF and Eiffel-facing terraces.

Former Hugo & Victor relaunched under the chef's name, 2003 French Dessert Champion's first eponymous boutique

Marais chocolatier with a tea room, millefeuille made à la minute, possibly Paris's finest caramels.

Manoj Sharma's modern Indian on rue de Choiseul, the 2e room that finally read Indian cooking as a chef's cuisine.

Stéphane Jégo's Basque-Breton bistronomie since 2004, riz au lait that built a pilgrimage.

Pigalle bar-restaurant by Fabien Lombardi (ex-Prescription), natural wines, aged cocktails, PUNCH-listed.

Basque auberge on Quai Saint-Exupéry, Pierre Oteiza Kintoa pork, pintxos, the Trinquet Village Seine-edge terrace.

Robert Linxe's original chocolate boutique since 1977, the room that defined Paris bean-to-praline

Mourad Mazouz's Marais Maghreb institution since 1990, tagines and pastilla under 17th-century beams.

Pauline Séné's Top Chef-pedigreed bistronomy at the more ambitious end of rue Paul Bert.

The tiny bistro between Saint-Sulpice and Luxembourg, Fooding-prize winner.

Cyril Lignac's classified-monument bistro, fish-forward menu in an 1894 zinc-and-mosaic room.

Alain Ducasse's bean-to-bar manufacture in the 11e, Nicolas Berger's atelier behind a cobbled courtyard

Southwest French institution since 1894, Art-Nouveau dining room beside the Halles épicerie.

The bistronomy capital of Paris, on the Carrefour de l'Odéon.

Antoine Westermann's Montmartre poultry house, heritage breeds, rotisserie at the top of the hill.

Marble-clad tapas-and-wine room next to the old Chateaubriand, Rem Koolhaas interior, natural-wine list.

Châtelet jazz club since 1984, 300+ concerts a year, free Friday-Saturday midnight jam.

The Marais corner where natural wine, oysters and serious cocktails collapse into one room.

Franck Baranger's bistronomy benchmark, Bib Gourmand on a Pigalle backstreet.

The oldest café in Paris, opened 1686, Voltaire, Diderot, Franklin all ate here.

The soufflé restaurant of the 7e, behind Le Bon Marché.

Vegetable-driven neo-bistro with a 400-bottle wine list and savoury-leaning desserts.

The Levha sisters' Franco-Filipino neo-bistro under a hand-painted ceiling on rue Saint-Maur.

Gaston Lenôtre's flagship since 1957, the Plaine Monceau room that taught a generation of French pastry chefs

The other Saint-Germain café, with the better view of the church.

World's 50 Best Bars veteran, eleven consecutive years on the list, peak rank #6 in 2023.

Contemporary Lebanese on rue de la Banque, Liza Asseily's Beirut-Paris dialogue

Mediterranean cooking with a Tuileries terrace at the foot of the Louvre

Pigalle absinthe speakeasy, 50 Best Discovery, the Little Red Door team's Storyville room.

France's oldest tea house since 1854, the Bourg-Tibourg flagship with the colonial-era painted casks

Mokonuts duo's chef-residency room, Le Fooding 2025 Honorary, rotating Palestinian / Korean / Filipino kitchens.

Jean-Louis Deniot-designed Evok hotel facing Comédie-Française, with Brasserie Réjane and a marble pool.

Paul Pairet's grill-and-rotisserie brasserie at the Crillon, the chic French fire-cooking room.

Meilleur Ouvrier de France 2000 chocolatier, the Madeleine flagship with the life-size chocolate sculptures

Alléno's one-Michelin counter format at Pavillon Ledoyen, the realistic same-week booking.

Candlelit 9e dining room, reborn under chef Lucie Boursier-Mougenot.

Big Mamma's four-floor Florentine theatre under a Pigalle glass roof.

Modern French bistronomic on a quiet Les Halles side street, chef-driven, value-strong tasting

Italian bistrattoria in the 19th-century Passage des Panoramas, Simone Tondo's Michelin-starred room

Open-fire Marais bistro where côte de bœuf is grilled in front of you on a wood hearth.

Eric Trochon's industrial bistronomy on rue de Seine.

Whisky-led cocktail den behind a discreet 4e façade, Vogue called it one of the world's 20 best.

Marais Korean BBQ, chef Sunghak Han's table-top grill, halal option, Michelin guide listing.

Anglophone-led tasting menu in a triplex above the Palais-Royal, Paris's quiet neo-bistro standard

Adeline Grattard's bistro reincarnation, Franco-Cantonese cooking after Yam'Tcha proper closes

Anatolian home cooking on rue Pasquier, the Madeleine room the Istanbul audience will actually recognise.